February 4, 2008 Issue

Cover art by: Cover photograph: Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945, MGM); cover design by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

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Feature

The CIA’s Jose: Case Study in Cynicism

Long before a top bureaucrat was exposed for destroying secret interrogation tapes, the CIA shrouded his identity, making the press corps complicit in practices that would offend the nation’s conscience.
Ted Gup
Bush’s Iran/Argentina Terror Frame-Up

The Bush Administration cites a 1994 bombing in Argentina to tar Iran as a sponsor of global terror. But a fresh probe finds no evidence of an Iran connection.

Gareth Porter
A Conversation with Taylor Branch

MLK’s biographer on presidents, politics, racial injustice, poverty and war.
Bruce Wallace
NIMBY Comes to China

In Shanghai, angry, middle-class protesters say a high-speed train will wreck their quality of life. This new form of dissent could be one of the biggest challenges China will face.
Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Suicide Is Painless

Kang’s political mentor–and reputed former lover–is found with a bullet in his brain. As the media is poised to pounce, she readies her talking points with a growing sense of dread.
Gary Phillips
The Mourning After

The antiabortion movement has found a new face to exploit for political gain. And it’s male.
Sarah Blustain
Experts in Terror

The US government relies heavily on the testimony of self-styled terrorism experts in prosecuting the “war on terror.” But how credible are they?
Petra Bartosiewicz

Editorial

Desperately Seeking Stimulus

An economy addicted to growth, bubbles, downsizing and lending sprees–has become disconnected from the real economy of ordinary human needs.
Barbara Ehrenreich
CSI: Iraq

Despite the cosmetic acts of President Bush, his undertakers and enablers, America’s Iraq is still a corpse.
Tom Engelhardt
Racial Politics, Clinton Style

No matter who injected the issue of race and gender into the Democratic presidential campaign, it’s not going away.
Ari Berman
Long Roe to Hoe

Improving the sorry state of US reproductive health policy requires serious shifts within the women’s movement and the abortion rights movement.
Frances Kissling and Kate Michelman
Noted.

Victor Navasky on failed punditry, Frida Berrigan on Bush’s Israeli pilgrimage, Esther Kaplan on activist nurses.
The Editors
Reconstruction Lessons

Advocates of African-Americans and women achieve more by working together than by fighting.
Eric Foner
Twin Disasters

When will the candidates cease their petty sniping and address the real issues: the Iraq War and the faltering economy?
The Editors
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Column

Bill and Hill’s Dangerous Game

The Clintons cannot compete with the enthusiasm Obama sets off so they are trying to destroy it. They just may succeed–but at an awful price.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Playing Politics with Bankers

Now that Dennis Kucinich is out of the presidential debates, don’t expect Clinton or Obama to hold unregulated bankers accountable for the global economic meltdown.
Robert Scheer
Our Eroding Dollar

No matter how much it adds to inflation, the Fed, prodded by Wall Street, is poised to again lower interest rates–punching an even bigger hole in our purchasing power.
Nicholas von Hoffman
The Weepy Witch & the Secret Muslim

If the campaign becomes a competition between race and gender, the winner will be whichever white man the GOP nominates.
Katha Pollitt
Moody’s: The Terrorist at Ground Zero

Lusting after pools of Social Security and Medicare money, the Wall Street giant aims to dictate national policy through the barrel of a financial gun.
Alexander Cockburn
Change…

Frances Jetter
Two Primary-Season Versions of ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’

It ain’t no nursery rhyme.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

A Conversation with Taylor Branch

MLK’s biographer on presidents, politics, racial injustice, poverty and war.
Bruce Wallace
Bella’s Way

They just don’t make women politicians like Bella Abzug anymore.
Nona Willis Aronowitz
L.A.

Politically speaking
look at this
a word at a time
on my knee
looking forward to a picnic
with my friends
in the afternoon
in their car
Eileen Myles
On the Books

A “rogue sociologist” gains unprecedented insight on the day-to-day workings of a Chicago gang.
Ted Conover
Little Ships of Horror

Marcus Rediker’s breathtaking “human history” of the slave ship reveals how the transatlantic slave trade demeaned everyone it touched.
Christopher Leslie Brown
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

Letters

Readers respond to Gary Younge on The Obama Effect, exchange views with Henry Siegman on Israel and comment about the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Our Readers and Henry Siegman

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February 4, 2008 Issue

Feature

Long before a top bureaucrat was exposed for destroying secret interrogation tapes, the CIA shrouded his identity, making the press corps complicit in practices that would offend the nation’s conscience.

The Bush Administration cites a 1994 bombing in Argentina to tar Iran as a sponsor of global terror. But a fresh probe finds no evidence of an Iran connection.

MLK’s biographer on presidents, politics, racial injustice, poverty and war.

In Shanghai, angry, middle-class protesters say a high-speed train will wreck their quality of life. This new form of dissent could be one of the biggest challenges China will face.

Kang’s political mentor–and reputed former lover–is found with a bullet in his brain. As the media is poised to pounce, she readies her talking points with a growing sense of dread.

The antiabortion movement has found a new face to exploit for political gain. And it’s male.

The US government relies heavily on the testimony of self-styled terrorism experts in prosecuting the “war on terror.” But how credible are they?

Editorial

An economy addicted to growth, bubbles, downsizing and lending sprees–has become disconnected from the real economy of ordinary human needs.

Despite the cosmetic acts of President Bush, his undertakers and enablers, America’s Iraq is still a corpse.

No matter who injected the issue of race and gender into the Democratic presidential campaign, it’s not going away.

Improving the sorry state of US reproductive health policy requires serious shifts within the women’s movement and the abortion rights movement.

Victor Navasky on failed punditry, Frida Berrigan on Bush’s Israeli pilgrimage, Esther Kaplan on activist nurses.

Advocates of African-Americans and women achieve more by working together than by fighting.

When will the candidates cease their petty sniping and address the real issues: the Iraq War and the faltering economy?

GET UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR LESS THAN $3 A MONTH!

Column

The Clintons cannot compete with the enthusiasm Obama sets off so they are trying to destroy it. They just may succeed–but at an awful price.

Now that Dennis Kucinich is out of the presidential debates, don’t expect Clinton or Obama to hold unregulated bankers accountable for the global economic meltdown.

No matter how much it adds to inflation, the Fed, prodded by Wall Street, is poised to again lower interest rates–punching an even bigger hole in our purchasing power.

If the campaign becomes a competition between race and gender, the winner will be whichever white man the GOP nominates.

Lusting after pools of Social Security and Medicare money, the Wall Street giant aims to dictate national policy through the barrel of a financial gun.

It ain’t no nursery rhyme.

Books & the Arts

MLK’s biographer on presidents, politics, racial injustice, poverty and war.

They just don’t make women politicians like Bella Abzug anymore.

Politically speaking look at this a word at a time on my knee looking forward to a picnic with my friends in the afternoon in their car

A “rogue sociologist” gains unprecedented insight on the day-to-day workings of a Chicago gang.

Marcus Rediker’s breathtaking “human history” of the slave ship reveals how the transatlantic slave trade demeaned everyone it touched.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

Letters

Readers respond to Gary Younge on The Obama Effect, exchange views with Henry Siegman on Israel and comment about the subprime mortgage meltdown.

Politically speaking
look at this
a word at a time
on my knee
looking forward to a picnic
with my friends
in the afternoon
in their car